US House of Representatives
Kevin McCarthy resigns as MP
Kevin McCarthy resigns from US House of Representatives but wants to ‘serve America in new ways’
© Mandel Ngan / AFP
Kevin McCarthy has had a turbulent year in the US House of Representatives. Now he has announced that he will give up his seat as a member of parliament.
Former Chairman of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, resigns as MP. He has decided to leave the House of Representatives at the end of this year “to serve America in new ways,” the Republican wrote in a statement on Wednesday Opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. “I know that my work is just beginning.” The 58-year-old further wrote that he was leaving with a “smile on his face.”
McCarthy was voted out of the post of chairman of the parliamentary chamber in a historic vote at the beginning of October – after he had only been elected by MPs after 15 rounds of voting just nine months earlier. Radical Republicans first hindered his election and then drove him from office. It was the first time in US history that a chairman of the House of Representatives lost his job in this way. The office comes third in the United States’ hierarchy after the president and his vice president.
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“It often seems that the more Washington does, the worse off America is,” McCarthy continued. He started his career as a small business owner and looks forward to helping entrepreneurs and risk-takers realize their full potential. “The challenges we face are more likely to be solved through innovation than through legislation.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said US President Joe Biden wished McCarthy well and congratulated him on his career. Despite significant political differences, both could have worked across party lines on important priorities for the people of the country. Biden also appreciates that McCarthy’s career is an American story – from small business owner to the highest-ranking member of the US Congress.
Sources: DPA, McCarthy text in the “Wall Street Journal”.